Stressful Times
by DamonsDarkness
Summary: As if Suze’s life wasn’t complicated enough with having Paul Slater desperately try to win her over. Now Jesse arrives, and life begins to get more complicated… Or does it become more interesting. J/S
1. Just another normal day, right?

* * *

I quickly glanced down at my watch – 8.35am. Great, I was late for school again. No thanks to Sleepy and his rusty pile of junk he likes to call a car. We eventually arrived outside the front of the school and I grabbed my bag and slammed the door behind me, ignoring Sleepy's apologies.

After running recklessly through the corridors, I rounded one of the corners a little too quickly and almost crashed into Father D.

"Susannah! How many times must I tell you, stop_ running_ through the corridors"

I turned around and noticed he was pointing a finger warningly in my direction.

"Sorry Father D, it won't happen again" I replied, trying to sound believable.

He simply rolled his eyes and turned back to the people he was conversing with. Kelly Prescott, I noticed, was one of them. She was standing there with a smug look upon her face. The guy next to her however, was smiling at me. It wasn't a rude smile like Kelly would give you, no, his seemed polite and genuine. Where did he come from? I definitely hadn't seen this guy around here before I thought to myself.

"Shouldn't you be making your way to class, Miss Simon?" Father D suddenly interrupted my thoughts.

"Yep, right on it" I turned and headed over to my locker to get my books out.

Not that I was eavesdropping but I couldn't' help but overhear Father D's conversation between himself, Kelly and the new guy.

"So I trust you'll take good care of our new student. Make sure you show him around and make his feel welcome"

"I will Father. You can count on me!" Kelly replied a little too enthusiastically.

"Alright, well I suppose you should start by showing him to his locker. I hope you enjoy your time with us Mr. De Silva"

"Thank you Father Dominic. I'm sure it will be a pleasant experience" The new guy replied.

Hmm, it sounds like he's got a Spanish accent I thought to myself as I searched for my maths text book.

"Ok then, what number have you got?" Kelly asked in her high pitched, flirty voice.

"81" He replied.

I widened my eyes – mine is 85! As they approached, I continued rattling through my locker, determined to find that damn maths book.

"Oh… you're right here" Kelly said, noticing how close his was to mine.

"Excellent" The new guy said as I heard him open up the locker to check it out.

I glanced over to the left to take another look at this guy. When suddenly one of my books fell over and created a domino effect, causing everything to fall out onto the floor.

"Oh, shoot!" I muttered as I tried to catch some of them in mid flight.

Kelly thought it was hilarious and started laughing. "You're a total klutz!"

I sighed, and felt slightly embarrassed as I quickly piled the books back into my locker. Suddenly, the new guy rushed over and bent down.

"Here, you look like you could do with some help" He said, gathering up the rest of the books off the corridor floor.

"Oh, thanks" I said, watching in awe at his tanned muscular arms.

"No problem" He smiled, placing them neatly where they belong.

"Hold on -" I reached out and took my maths book from his grasp. My hand briefly brushed his for a second. "I need this one"

"I believe that I have mathematics now as well. Isn't that right Kelly?" He asked without taking his eyes off me. "We might be in the same class"

Kelly cleared her throat. "There are two maths classes running at the moment, so you're more likely to be in mine. Look, we better get going before Suze _bores_ you to death"

"Soose?" He questioned, crinkling his nose in disgust. "I thought Father Dominic called you Susannah?"

"Um, well yeah, that's my full name. But I prefer Suze"

"Susannah suits you better"

"Kelly coughed loudly and placed her manicured fingers on his upper arm. "Come on, let's go already!"

The new guy obliged and followed her down the corridor, but not before taking a glance over his shoulder at me. I stood there feeling a little stunned. Ok, what just happened? And after all that, I didn't ask for his first name. I sighed and quickly made my own way to class. Everyone looked up from their text books as I opened the door. Mr. Walton stopped writing on the blackboard and turned to face me.

"Miss Simon. How nice of you to finally join us"

"I'm sorry Mr. Walton, um… Father D stopped to talk to me in the corridor and -"

"I'm tired of hearing excuses young lady. You're always late for first period"

Suddenly the door opened behind me, and in stepped that new Spanish guy. He looked a little nervous as he ran a hand through his dark brown hair.

"Hello, may I help you?" Mr. Walton asked.

"Please excuse me but I'm new, and I was told that I am supposed to be in this class"

"Ah, you must be Mr. De Silva. Father Dominic informed me we were getting a new student"

The new guy nodded and stepped forward so that he was now standing beside me. Mr. Walton walked over to his desk and wrote his name down on the roll.

"So, looks like you weren't in Kelly's class after all?" I whispered.

He gave me a small smile and whispered back "Guess not"

"What is you're first name?" Mr. Walton asked.

"Jesse" He replied, once again without taking his eyes off me. It was as if he was personally telling me his name.

"Alright, there's an empty seat up the back next to Adam" Mr. Walton added.

Jesse finally took his gaze off me and walked towards the back of the room to the empty seat.

"As for you, Miss Simon, I'm going to have to give you an after school detention. Maybe this will make you think twice about coming late to my class again" Mr. Walton said, pulling out a green detention slip.

Before I had the chance to protest, Jesse had already started talking.

"If you don't mind me saying Sir, I was the one who was partly responsible for holding Susannah up in the corridor…"

Mr. Walton waved his hand in the air. "Ok, I'll let you off this time. But make sure you arrive on time from now on" He said to me in an annoyed tone.

"Yes, Sir" I replied hastily.

I turned and made my way to my seat next to Cee Cee, noticing her excited facial expression. Just before I sat down, I mouthed 'thank you' to Jesse who was sitting at the desk behind Cee Cee.

'What was all that about?' Cee Cee wrote down on a piece of scrap paper for only me to see.

'Nothing' I scribbled underneath her message.

'That was _not _nothing! You should have seen the way he was looking at you' She wrote back.

I ignored her and started to copy down the equations off the black board.

"So, which school did you used to go to?" I heard Adam ask behind me.

"I've actually been home schooled my whole life" Jesse replied.

"Are you serious? Geez some get it easy" Adam scoffed.

"It hasn't been easy. My father is a strict man and -"

Mr. Walton coughed, motioning for Jesse to be quiet. Adam muttered something incoherent under his breath.

The rest of the lesson went rather quick, and before I knew it the bell rang.

"What have you girls got next?" Adam asked, standing beside me.

I stood up as I gathered my things and double checked my timetable. "We've both got art. You?"

"Sport" Adam sighed. "Remind me why I took that again? It's killing me"

Cee Cee laughed. "You said you wanted to get fit didn't you?"

"Hmm. Starting to regret that…" He said, rubbing his back.

I tuned out of the conversation and noticed that Jesse was still seated, studying his timetable.

"Are you alright? You look slightly confused"

He looked up directly into my eyes, and then back down at the piece of paper.

"I am having a little difficulty understanding this…"

"That's ok. Let me see if I can help" I said as he handed me his timetable. "It's the least I can do, seeing as though you helped me with my locker crisis this morning"

He chuckled and stood up in front of me. I looked up for a moment, realising how tall he actually was up against me. Forcing my gaze back onto the paper, I swallowed and explained it to him.

"As you can see you've got the columns labeled from Monday to Friday, and the rows are labeled from periods 1 – 4. Now it gets confusing because in each box, they put the first two letters of your subject, then you've got which room it's in, and then you've got the teacher's initials"

I stopped and looked up at him. He was studying the page, gently nodding his head. I looked back down at the page again.

"Ok, so let's see what you have next" I guided my finger to the appropriate box. "Ph… Wow, you're studying Physics"

"Yes, I find it quite fascinating" He informed me.

"Ok…" I scanned the rest of his sheet, seeing what else he took. "You do enjoy you're science don't you, you're studying Chemistry as well… And extension Maths, geez! Why would you want to do extra Maths, are you crazy?" I laughed a little.

He seemed a little uncomfortable with my laughter perhaps, so I stopped abruptly.

"Well, I thought those subjects might help with my future career"

"I see… You must be intelligent. What are you planning on becoming? A doctor or something?"

"Funny you should say that, because -"

"Jesse!" The sound of Kelly's hideous voice filled the air, causing him to stop what he was saying.

I rolled my eyes and handed back his timetable. "So you think you'll be alright with that?"

"I hope so. Thank you for taking the time to show me, Susannah"

"Argh! Don't listen to a word she says, this one isn't very smart you know" Kelly said, fiddling with one of her blonde curls.

I called her a bitch as I walked past, just loud enough for her to hear. She huffed and stomped her foot like a spoilt brat. I thought I heard Jesse call my name, but as I stepped outside, there were too many voices muffling the air. I might have imagined hearing it.


	2. You're different

* * *

Before long, lunch time had arrived and I made my way over to our usual spot under the tree. Cee Cee ran up to me before I had even gotten there and started interrogating me with hundreds of questions about Jesse. She finally took a breath of air, and then finished by asking. "So, do you like him or what?"

"He seems... Nice" I said, not enjoying this sort of attention.

"C'mon Suze, he's absolutely gorgeous!" Cee Cee poked me in the arm as I sat down opposite Adam and took my sandwich out of my bag.

"Yeah Suze, he's absolutely gorgeous" Adam mocked Cee Cee as he took a bite from his apple. "Oh please! Guys that look like that, always end up having peas for brains"

Cee Cee slapped him.

"Well, actually the subjects he's studying are quite impressive…" I mumbled.

"And what, he just came out and told you all his impressive subjects?" Adam asked.

"I helped him work out his timetable"

"You've fallen for him already haven't you?" Cee Cee beamed with delight.

"Um, I don't really know the guy yet Cee. And besides, he's probably not interested in me in that way…" I said, picking at my ham and cheese sandwich.

"I don't trust the guy…" Adam blurted out.

"You don't trust any guy, that's why you hang out with us" Cee Cee reminded him.

"Yeah, but you of all people should know by now Suze… Guys like that are no good. I mean, take Paul for example -"

"He is nothing like Paul!" Cee Cee interrupted through gritted teeth, threatening to slap him again.

"Thanks a lot Adam!" I yelled, feeling rather annoyed. "Geez, I never said I was going to marry the guy!"

"Suze, where are you going?" Cee Cee called after me as I stormed off.

"Just leave me alone for a while, ok?"

I was well out of their sight, when I almost bumped into Kelly and her 'gang' of followers.

"Watch where you're going, klutz!" She spat rudely.

"Leave me alone" I said, trying to walk past her.

She grabbed onto my denim jacked and spun me around. It took every ounce of me to hold back from punching her right there in the nose. But I looked over her shoulder and noticed one of the teachers nearby. Lucky for her, I thought.

"How about you leave Mr. De Silva alone you little two timing bitch" She said.

"Two timing? I'm not going out with _anyone_ you idiot" I said getting irritated, and feeling the need to punch her even though I knew the consequences.

"Oh, so you stole Paul away from me just so you could _dump_ him? Now a new hottie comes along and you feel you need to have him too, eh?"

"It's not my fault Paul has no interest in you what so ever. I made a mistake giving him a chance though. So if you want him, by all means you can have him!" With that, I walked away but not before adding. "I'm sure he'll still be happy with his second choice"

What happened next actually surprised me. Kelly ran over and pushed me pretty hard into the brick wall. For a 'petite bimbo' she really was quite strong. I lost control and immediately retaliated by pushing her back but with even more force. She lost her footing and fell to the ground, scrapping her elbows on the concrete when she landed back on them. Needless to say, the teacher on duty only saw me pushing Kelly, so I was the one who ended up with an hour of afternoon detention. I wonder what would have happened if Mr. Walton had given me that other one earlier… Would I have had to have done two hours?

So there I was sitting in afternoon detention with a bunch of other juvenile delinquents, when I could have been down at the coffee clutch with Cee Cee and Adam. Even though technically, I was still mad with Adam for bringing up the topic of Paul.

Finally time was up and I was able to leave the school premises. I was halfway out the front gate when I heard my name being called by a male. Jerking my head around, I was expecting to see Adam there, but it was actually Jesse, calling me from inside his car. My legs involuntarily carried me over there, even though part of me knew what happened the last time I got into a flashy car with a good looking guy. But the other part of me knew that Jesse was different… and his silver car wasn't even close to being called flashy.

"What do you want? Shouldn't you have left school by now?" I asked, bending down to see him through the empty passenger's seat.

"I had an afternoon class… Extension maths. Are you alright? You look like you're annoyed about something"

"You would be too if you spent the last hour in detention"

"What? I thought I talked Mr. Walton out of giving you one…"

"This was for something else" I muttered. "Look I better get going, my friends are expecting me"

"Oh, well would you like me to give you a lift?" He offered.

I looked at him suspiciously. He wore a white collared button up shirt with the top two buttons undone, revealing a little of his tanned chest. Even though he didn't seem like the kidnapping type, you never can tell these days. "Um, I don't really take rides from strangers… learnt that from experience"

"What? Why, has something bad happened in the past?" He asked, his voice sounded full of concern.

I looked at my watch and noticed it was getting a little late. If I wanted to hurry and catch Adam and Cee Cee at the coffee clutch, then I'd better take his offer.

"I can trust you can't I?"

"Of course you can, Susannah" He reassured me, and then let out a brief chuckle. "I'm not going to drive off with you"

"Look, ok I'm meeting some friends at the coffee clutch. It's not far from here. So if it's not too much trouble…"

"Ah Yes, I think I know the place you're talking about. I'm sure I saw it on the way to school this morning"

"Great" I smiled, hopping in the passenger seat when he reached over and unlocked the door. "It must be great to have a car. I wish I had one, and then I wouldn't be so late in the morning"

Jesse chuckled as he drove away from the school. "This isn't actually my car. It's my father's… Do you have to walk to school?"

"Oh no, one of my stepbrothers drives us… but his car isn't what you'd call reliable"

"One of your stepbrothers? How many do you have?" He asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

"I've got three… unfortunately. Although the youngest one, Doc, isn't all that bad. There's one who's my age, Dopey, he's a complete moron, hence the nickname. And Sleepy, he's got his own job now…"

"I like the nicknames" He smiled.

"Yeah. So what about you? Any siblings?" I asked, looking over at him.

"Yep, I've got five younger sisters"

"Wow that must be interesting"

He looked over at me briefly and studied my face as we waited to give way for a pedestrian at the crossing.

"It can be a lot of hard work at times… But they are all well behaved"

I nodded and had to avert my eyes away from his gaze as I started to feel butterflies in my stomach.

"If you don't mind me asking, what did you get the detention for?"

I stared out the window and tried to make myself sound casual. "Oh it was nothing, really. Just got into an argument with someone…"

"Kelly Prescott?" He asked, almost as if he'd read my mind.

I sighed and told him to make a left turn as I noticed we were getting closer to the coffee clutch.

"She doesn't seem to like you very much" He stated.

"Yeah well, the feeling is mutual"

He glanced over at me is if waiting to hear me elaborate, but I didn't want to talk about it.

"Don't ask" I said, looking ahead and seeing the coffee clutch before us. Jesse turned into the car park and stopped the engine.

"Susannah…" He started, keeping his eyes on the coffee clutch. "There's something you said before that's kind of… worrying me"

"I said a lot of things, which one in particular?"

"Um, when you were hesitant about getting in my car – which I suppose you should have been, I mean, you don't really know me…"

"What are you getting at?"

"Susannah has someone… I mean, has something happened…"

"You don't need to worry about that" I interrupted him. "It's in the past… I just don't really trust guys until I get to know them, that's all"

"You got in the car with me…"

"Well, you seemed different" I said, feeling a little awkward.

"Different in a good way?" He asked.

"Um yeah, maybe. Listen, thanks for the ride" I said as he turned in his seat to look at me. I wish he wouldn't look at me like that; it's making me feel lightheaded.

"It was my pleasure" He smiled.

"Um, so I'll see you around school tomorrow" As I fiddled with the strap on my bag, I couldn't help but notice that he suddenly looked a little disappointed about something.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow" He responded, looking away from me.

I gave him a weak smile, even though he didn't see it, and then opened the door to get out. As I made my way over to the front door of the coffee clutch, it suddenly dawned on me. I didn't even ask him if he'd like to come in… Maybe that's why he seemed a little cheesed off. I slowly turned back around to see if he was still there, but Kelly Prescott had already set her eyes on him. She had just arrived with Debbie, and they made a beeline straight to Jesse's car. Ignoring them, I decided to go inside and meet up with Cee Cee and Adam… Except it turned out that they weren't even in there. I pulled out my phone and dialed Cee Cee's number.

"Hey, where are you? I thought you'd be down at the clutch"

"Oh, hey Suze. You never showed up at the gate. We thought you'd gone home with your brother or something… Anyway, I didn't think you were speaking to Adam at the moment"

"Yeah alright then, well I'll see you tomorrow"

"Ok Suze. See ya"

I hung up my phone and turned around to see Kelly walking into the room with her arm wrapped around Jesse.

"What's the matter Suze? Friends didn't show up?" She giggled, running a hand down Jesse's arm.

Debbie stepped forward and added. "By the way, how was detention?"

I breathed in and exhaled my breath in frustration. Without causing a scene, I ignored them and stepped outside without looking in Jesse's direction. Maybe he wasn't so different from the other guys after all.

The long walk home was excruciating. Most of it was uphill, and the wind had picked up which was making it even more difficult. When I arrived home I was absolutely exhausted. I trudged up the stairs, reached for my iPod and flopped down on my bed.

Little did I know that tomorrow would be so much worse than today...


	3. I hate Paul Slater!

* * *

It was forecasted to be a hot one today.

Suddenly the message tone on my phone startled me and woke me up from my sleep. It was from Cee Cee. 'Bring ur costume, we're goin 2 beach afta skool'. Rolling over, I checked the time on my alarm clock. 7.05am and it already felt like I was baking in an oven. I moaned and got dressed in my black mini skirt and a cute pink tee.

Amazingly for once, Sleepy actually got us to school on time. I quickly gathered my English books from my locker and closed the door with a loud bang.

"No need to take it out on your locker, Suze" Came an all too familiar voice.

I let out a short scream as I stared up into the face of Paul Slater.

"Nice to see you too, babe" He grinned, looking me up and down.

"I, ah… Really need to go to the bathroom. Excuse me" I said as I quickly began to walk away.

"Suze!" He called after me, but I ignored him and kind of broke out into a run.

When will I learn that running around blind corners is dangerous, as I accidently bumped into the back of someone.

"Oh, I'm so sorry" I breathed heavily as I finally looked up and realised it was Jesse De Silva.

"Susannah? Are you alright?"

Without thinking, I took hold of his arm and guided him into the classroom. I didn't have Cee Cee or Adam in this class, and there was no way I was letting Paul Slater sit next to me.

"Please sit next to me" I said, releasing his arm and pushing some of my long brown hair away from my face.

"Ok…" He looked at me strangely as if I had asked him to jump off a cliff or something. I sat down and pulled his chair out for him. Luckily he accepted my offer and took the seat next to me. I sighed in relief and placed my books on the desk. Suddenly I noticed that my mini skirt had risen up a little too high, so I quickly smoothed it down.

"Is something wrong?" Jesse asked, glancing sideways at me.

"Hmm, nah I'm fine. It's just this skirt is a little annoying when I sit down… It keeps riding up"

Oh my god! Why on earth did I just say that to a guy? I felt rather embarrassed and totally regretted it as I noticed his eyes flickering down to my hem line. He cleared his throat, and focused back at his books instead. I mentally kicked myself for being such an idiot. Until all of a sudden I noticed my bag was missing.

"Hold on… Where's my bag?" I frantically glanced around the floor. "Oh shoot! I must of left back at my locker"

"Looking for _this_?" Paul smirked, as he suddenly appeared in front of my desk.

I frowned and grabbed my bag from his large hand "What are you doing here?" I managed to choke out.

"Um, I kind of go to school here… and I'm in your English class"

"I know that" I spoke a little more confidently, knowing that Jesse was beside me. "But I thought you weren't going to be back from your holiday for at least another week"

"Change of plans… Did you miss me?"

"Hardly" I mumbled under my breath.

Paul smoothly placed his ray bans upon his head and casually gazed down at me before finally turning his attention to Jesse. "Who are _you_?"

"This is Jesse" I said, a little too high pitched. "He's new here"

"Jesse De Silva" He said, raising his hand to shake Paul's.

But Paul didn't return the hand shake. Instead he narrowed his eyes and growled. "How about you _move!_ You're sitting in my seat"

Before Jesse got the chance to say or do anything, I quickly chimed in. "Sorry Paul, but Jesse got here first. Oh look, Mrs. Campbell has arrived. Better hurry and find a seat somewhere else… Unless you want to stand there for the next hour and a half"

"Real funny. I'll talk to you later, Suze" He snarled down at us before walking to the other side of the room.

"I don't think so" I muttered, low enough for only Jesse to hear.

"Who was that? I've never known someone to be so _rude_…" Jesse asked, narrowing his eyes in disgust.

I scoffed. "You mean besides Kelly"

He ignored my comment and opened his novel to chapter 8 as Mrs. Campbell had instructed.

"Is he a friend of yours?" Jesse continued probing information out of me.

"Paul Slater? You've got to be joking" I casually said, opening my book as well.

"He's not causing you any trouble is he?" Jesse whispered, pretending to read the book.

"Nothing that I can't handle" I said out the corner of my mouth as I noticed the teacher was looking my way.

I heard Jesse sigh. "Susannah…"

"Be quiet and read the book, you have a lot to catch up on" I said, trying to change the subject.

"I've read this one before" He muttered, flicking through the pages.

"Oh. Does it get interesting further on?"

"Nope"

"Damn English novels" I moaned.

"Is there a problem Miss Simon?" Mrs. Campbell asked, lowering her glasses to peer out at me.

"No Mrs. Campbell, everything is fine" I said, looking down at the book.

We remained silent for most of the lesson, until another teacher came in to speak to Mrs. Campbell about something. Jesse immediately took to opportunity to speak to me again.

"I felt bad for you having to walk home from the coffee clutch yesterday" He said softly.

I continued staring at the book in front of me. "Don't worry about it"

But for some reason it was worrying him. "To be honest, I wasn't sure if you would speak to me again" He continued.

"Why would you think that?"

Jesse was silent for a moment before saying. "Well, I didn't say anything when those girls said those cruel comments to you…"

"So? Why would I care what you do or do not say?"

"Susannah I'd like to be your friend, and friends stick up for one another"

"Thanks Jesse" I smiled genuinely.

His smile seemed to outdo mine though. He had a lovely set of white, perfect looking teeth, and his chocolate coloured eyes lit up.

"You know, that's the first time you've said my name" He said while looking over at me.

I suddenly felt my cheeks slightly begin to heat up. "Yeah, I suppose you're right… Jesse"

He quietly laughed under his breath and checked to make sure the teacher was still occupied.

"So, can I make it up to you?" He asked, waiting for my response.

Just then, the bell rang and everyone made a racket as they exited the room. I looked up and noticed Paul gave me a warning glare as he left the room.

"Um, ok… How about you walk me to my next class" I said as I picked up my books.

Jesse stood up and rubbed the back of his neck. "That's not exactly what I meant…"

"Then what do you have in mind? I've got to get going. I can't afford to be late to any more classes"

"I don't know. Maybe we could… do something this afternoon?"

"I'm going to the beach with Cee Cee and Adam" I said as we left the room and stepped out into the corridor. "You can meet us down there if you like"

"Ok. Yeah, that sounds great. I'll see you down there" He said as that lovely smile appeared on his face once again.

Everything seemed to be going my way for once, i thought to myself as i happily walked off.

But knowing my luck, that was all about to change...

I didn't manage to make it through the day without bumping into Paul Slater again. It was the end of the day, and I was making my way to the front gates to meet Cee Cee and Adam. When suddenly Paul came out of nowhere and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were avoiding me" He said, watching me squirm under his arm.

Other students eyed us curiously as they passed by.

"Let me go Paul, I'm really getting tired of your stupid mind games" I dug my nails into his skin, forcing him to move his arm.

"Suze, if you'd just give me another chance -"

I looked around to make sure no one was close enough to hear what I was about to say. "Another chance to do _what_? To have your way with me? No thanks!"

"Look I'm sorry I acted like a jerk that time up in my bedroom… But we had fun while it lasted, right?" He asked before averting his gaze onto something behind me.

A huge cheeky grin appeared on Paul's face, and I glanced quickly over my shoulder to see what could be so fascinating.

It was Jesse. He stood there with an expression on his face that I found a little difficult to read. It was like anger, pain, confusion and sadness all rolled into one look, and I wasn't sure which one was more dominant.

"Jesse…" I started to speak but he walked right passed us.

I stood there, stunned for words. Until Paul's ugly smirk came back into view.

"Was it something I said?" He had the hide to ask.

I set my jaw and clenched my fists around the collar of his shirt. "I _despise_ you Paul Slater, and you have my word that I will never, _ever _get back with you. Do you understand that?"

He remained silent but continued to give me that cheeky, smug grin. So I slapped him hard across the cheek and stormed off.

* * *

**Hey guys. I hope i'm doing alright so far. Please let me know what you think. Cheers!**


	4. Fun in the sun

* * *

It was very busy when Cee Cee, Adam and I arrived down in the car park at Carmel beach.

"Looks like everyone has had the same idea" Adam said as he lifted his surfboard off the roof of his car.

"Well it's _so_ hot. What do you expect" Cee Cee muttered as she gathered her beach chair and mini umbrella under her arms.

We made our way down onto the sand and managed to find a decent spot away from screaming kids and a family who were feeding chips to a flock of squawking seagulls. Cee Cee set up her mini beach umbrella, put her wide brimmed hat on and sat down on her chair.

"Suze, could you please zip me up?" Adam asked, referring to the back of his wetsuit.

"Sure thing" I zipped it up and tucked the cord in at the top. "Have fun out there!"

"Yeah, there's some great waves out the back today" He smiled, picking up his board and running off towards the ocean.

I tied my long hair up into a messy bun and then proceeded to take off my clothes, revealing my new light blue bikini.

"So, do you reckon the new Spanish hottie will come down here?" Cee Cee asked, watching as I put on my sunglasses and spread out my beach towel beside her.

"He has a name you know" I sighed, leaning back on my towel and admiring the ocean.

Cee Cee snickered and rolled her eyes. "I wish you'd just admit you fancy him"

"Even if I did… I think I've ruined my chances with him"

"What do you mean? What happened?"

"_Paul_, that's what happened. He decided to open his stupid big mouth"

Cee Cee cringed and looked down at me from her beach chair "I heard he was back. So what did he say exactly?"

I tucked some loose strands of hair behind my ear and exhaled deeply. "He brought up the past and unfortunately Jesse overheard the part about me being in Paul's bedroom"

"I can't believe he actually said that out loud. But you never slept with him, so don't worry what he says"

"I know, but Jesse probably assumes that I've slept with the rat"

"Then tell him otherwise!"

"_What_!?" I turned and looked at Cee Cee like she was completely insane. "And say something like '_Hi Jesse, I haven't actually slept with Paul Slater by the way. He stole a kiss from me and tried to seduce me on his king sized bed, but I was lucky to have escaped_'. It's none of Jesse's business. Let him think what he damn well wants to think" And with that, I rolled over onto my stomach and closed my eyes.

"Ah, Suze…"

"Hmmm"

"He's here!"

I was silent for a moment before deciding to respond casually "Good for him"

"And he's looking this way_!_"

"Are you serious?" I turned my head to stare at Cee Cee who started laughing.

"No, he's not looking up here. He's staring out at the ocean… Sorry, I just wanted to see your reaction"

"Thanks Cee!" I said rather sarcastically as I slowly rolled onto my side. And that's when I saw him for my own eyes… Standing there, facing the ocean as Cee Cee had said, and he was wearing a pair of black shorts and a fitted white singlet.

Cee Cee started to get all excited. "_Whoa_, look at that body! He must work out a lot… Outdoors most likely, he's got a lovely tan. And check out those arm muscles"

"He's nothing special" I lied, leaning back on my elbows.

"You're a liar Suze. Any girl who doesn't admire a guy like that is crazy!"

"Well if you love him so much, why don't _you_ go and talk to him?"

"Because… He's not interested in me. You on the other hand… You've caught his attention right from the start"

I scoffed at her words and watched as Jesse began to take his sneakers off. Within a matter of seconds, he was off jogging along the shore line.

* * *

About half and hour had passed by, and I woke up from my sunbathing session feeling rather hot. I got up off my stomach and placed my sunglasses into my handbag.

"I'm going to go cool off for a bit Cee Cee, I'm feeling so hot"

She nodded her head without taking her eyes away from the romance novel she was reading. I made my way across the sand until I reached the water's edge which felt cool and refreshing. Within no time at all, I was fully in the water and swimming out past the sand bank. I was casually floating around, and occasionally ducking under the bigger waves, until this strong one pushed me back, causing me to accidently bump into someone. When I surfaced and rubbed the water from my eyes, I saw that it was a man possibly in his thirties.

"I'm terribly sorry" I apologised.

"That's quite alright young lady" The man smiled at me, baring his discoloured teeth.

Another wave headed towards us so I ducked under it and swam away from the man. Little did I know he was actually following behind me.

"So do you live around here, or are you a tourist?" He asked, floating just a few metres away.

"Um, yeah I'm a local" I replied, wishing he would just go away.

"I'm new to the area… Do you think maybe you could give me some advice on some top tourist spots?"

"Oh gee, listen I'm not the best person to talk to about that… You should try the town's information centre" I suggested, hoping he'd just leave me alone.

But he continued to stare at me, so I started to swim off in the direction of the shore.

"Wait, I've got one more question…" The man called out from behind me.

All of a sudden something came over me, I just felt so annoyed with him that I turned around and yelled out "What the _hell_ is your problem man? Just leave me alone!"

The guy was startled to say the least. He turned around and swam off. I sighed in frustration and went to pull my hair tie out seeing as though it was pretty much falling out anyway. I was running my fingers through my tangled hair when I noticed that Jesse was swimming over towards me. Far out, can't I get a break around here!

"Hey" I tried to sound calm and collected as he approached.

The water level came up to chest, and I'm telling you even though I couldn't see his whole torso, his body looked amazing from what I could see. I forced my eyes away from his flesh and glanced over his face. It made him look rather cute the way his dark hair clung to his forehead. My stomach suddenly felt full with butterflies. Oh my goodness, what is happening to me? Am I actually melting for this guy like every other girl seems to be?

"Hi, um I couldn't help but notice that guy seemed to be harassing you… I just wanted to make sure everything was alright?"

I smiled in response, I couldn't help it. "Awe, that's really sweet of you. But I'm ok, I took care of it"

We both jumped over an oncoming wave before a moment of silence came between us. Jesse glanced around as he ran his hand through his wet hair, and then gave me an awkward smile.

"Ok well if you're alright now, then I guess I'll be going"

My eyes watched as he turned his back on me and slowly moved away. I didn't want him to leave, something inside me wanted to be near him.

"Jesse, wait!" I found myself calling out.

He turned around and looked at me expectantly. But I was totally speechless; no words would come to me.

"Behind you!" He called out, pointing to another oncoming wave.

When I turned around, it hit me right in the face. I spat the water out and quickly tried to fix my hair before I turned around to face him again. Surprisingly, he had moved a lot closer and he appeared to have a look of concern upon his face.

"Turn back around for a moment" He instructed, motioning with his finger.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I think your back has been burnt"

"Are you serious?" I asked, immediately feeling with my own hands. "My skin does feel hot…"

"Make I take a look?" He asked, moving closer to me.

I nodded and held up my hair so he could get a better look at my back. He gasped in response, so I'm guessing I'm pretty burnt.

"Oh my! Querida, what have you done to yourself?"

"Is it that bad huh?" I asked, turning back around to face his shocked expression. Then I played back his words in my mind. "Hold on, did you just call me something in Spanish?"

He seemed a little embarrassed as he looked away from me. "Ah, yeah. Sorry"

"It sounded nice… What does it mean?"

"Nothing… Look, you really better do something about that back of yours" Jesse said, trying to change the topic back onto me.

"Nah, I'll be fine" I assured him.

"Susannah, I don't think you realise how bad you've actually been burnt. Trust me, you should go home straight away and put some aloe vera cream on it"

I sighed and then searched around to see if I could see Adam out the back somewhere. "Well, I'm not sure where Adam is and I need him to drive me home. So I'm afraid I'll have to wait until he's done surfing"

"Then I will drive you home, come on" He said as he headed off into shore. "If that's alright with you of course"

"Um, yeah I suppose so" I said, following behind him.

As we reached the sand and headed up to where Cee Cee was sitting, I couldn't help but notice that Jesse seemed a little uncomfortable about something.

"I'll just go and get my belongings" He said after he cleared his throat. "Be back in a minute"

When I made my way over to Cee Cee, she looked up from her book.

"Hey Cee, look I'm heading off ok. I've been sunburnt pretty badly and Jesse has offered to drive me home" I told her as I wrapped my towel around my body and grabbed my bag.

"_What_?" She asked in a high pitched tone. "Good heavens, you're getting in his _car_?"

"_Ssshhhh_" I whispered when I saw Jesse coming over our way. "He's only driving me home"

"Ok, ready to go?" He asked, waiting for my nod before turning to Cee Cee. "Hi, I'm Jesse De Silva. I don't believe we've been properly introduced"

Cee Cee looked like she had completely frozen as she stared at his naked torso, which I must admit was making me swoon as well. Her mouth was wide open, and her romance novel fell from her hand.

"This is Cee Cee Webb" I had to answer on her behalf. "And it looks like she's experiencing some technical difficulties, so maybe we should get going"

Jesse chuckled at my comment and then told Cee Cee he'd see her around school. By the time we had silently made our way over to the parking lot, Jesse, to my disappointment had pulled on a blue t-shirt.

"Let me get that for you" He said, opening up the passenger door for me.

"Thanks. It's nice to see chivalry still exists" I smiled, placing my bag between my feet.

Jesse walked around to the driver's seat, got in and started the engine.

"Geez, yeah I think I'm starting to feel the effects now… I'm burning up" I moaned, shifting uncomfortably in my seat. "Can we please put the air-con on?"

"Certainly. You do look very hot" Jesse said, instantly regretting his choice of words as he noticed me blushing. "Alright then, um… You'll have to give me directions"

"Oh yeah, of course. I'll let you know where to turn" I said partly through gritted teeth.

"That's going to hurt tomorrow" He said, giving me a sympathetic smile.

"Hmm, maybe I can get a day off school…" I said while looking out the window.

See, something good has come out of this after all. Well, besides being in the car with Jesse… I briefly had a look at him and smiled to myself.

I'll definitely admit it… I'm falling for him.


End file.
